I said I'd start a thread about the hazards of being interested in Star Trek, so here we go...
The obvious is going on and on about it when nobody else is interested. That applies to any obsession, however. The solution is to seek out others who share that interest. This is where the real hazard begins.
There exists a complete, decades-old subculture of Trekkies. I'm sure you've all at least heard of the conventions, where Trekkies will travel hundreds of miles to meet their favorite actors in person, get an autograph, and get told to "get a life". (Kidding about the "get a life" part. However, different cast members attitudes vary toward the fans.)
There are also literally hundreds of local clubs for Trekkies, that meet IRL on a regular basis. If you're a Trekkie, you can check those out, but you won't know if it's a good one or a bad one until after you've met its members and have known them for a while. Most of these local groups are chapters of a handful of umbrella organizations of international or regional scope. The local groups call themselves "ships" and have names like "USS Something" or "IKV Whatever". (The IKV's are Klingon-themed clubs.) At this point, I will not mention names of specific local groups or umbrella organizations. The local groups typically meet on a regular basis, go on road trips (to conventions and other places/events of interest), and support charities.
That all sounds like fun, and it often is, but here's the problem... politics... nasty, ugly, cutthroat organizational politics. There are many within these organizations who have a highly inflated ego &/or a pathological need for control. Because of them, you'll be in one of those groups and forget that it was originally just a group for people who happen to like the same TV show. They'll get to be like some sort of dysfunctional fraternal organization.
In a large urban area, there could be as many as a dozen chapters of the same umbrella organization. They end up serving different parts of town, but the real reason there are so many is because of political turmoil. I've heard of people founding a chapter, and then having their chapter break up and re-form without them. That's people with an egotistical need to be in control of something, but little or no leadership skills.
I've also seen alot of people acting all friendly with each other in-person, and then verbally hammering each other behind each other's backs. You might go to a meeting and listen to a 45-minute rant about what a dumbass someone a hundred miles away in another chapter is. I've heard their online forums, IRC's and other channels of electronic communication can get pretty vicious, too. I've had my chapter's president tell me I should register on those forums so I could keep up with what's going on. I think I'll pass, because I'd prefer not to get caught up in that shit.
Over the past 14 years, I've been involved with four different Trekkie groups (three of them in the same umbrella group) in three different towns, and also another group that's just a science fiction group. Of the four Trekkie groups, the one that was not in the same umbrella group as the others seemed to be the most laid-back and in it just for the fun. I've been the happiest with the group that's just a sci-fi group. Whereas the Trekkie groups have volumes upon volumes of rules and bylaws, the just-a-scifi group keeps it simple. If there's any turmoil in that group, I'm not aware of it and don't want to be aware of it either. They seem to get things done without any bullshit, like operate a successful sci-fi convention in my town, which they have been doing a damn good job of for over 20 years.
Here's where an Aspie really needs to be careful. Trekkie groups (and other groups associated with the overall sci-fi/fantasy/horror/gaming/etc. culture) are often a refuge for those people who don't fit in elsewhere, but the more social people are still very much in charge, and there are many of them who will take advantage of you if you're not careful.
